Aspire Defence donates £61,500 to Help for Heroes

10 Jan 08

(l - r) Peter Smart, chief executive, Aspire Defence Ltd, Roger Morgan-Grenville, fundraiser co-ordinator for Help for Heroes, Penny Brown, the charity’s regional fundraiser for Wiltshire, Frank Dufficy, a senior partner for CMS Cameron McKenna, Geoff Sheldon, assistant document control manager, Aspire Defence Capital Works, Robin Herzberg, managing director for Carillion Private Finance and Paul Dempster, managing director, Aspire Defence Capital Works

Earlier this week Aspire Defence, jointly with CMS Cameron McKenna and Carillion Private Finance made a significant donation by presenting a cheque for £61,500 to Help for Heroes.

The donation has been made possible by the generosity of three organisations. Firstly, staff within Aspire Defence Capital Works (ADCW) donated proceeds from their late summer ball held to mark the great start made to the contract and delivering 2RTR on time. Proceeds from raffle ticket sales raised around £2,500 which was decided should go directly to the Help for Heroes charity. On behalf of ADCW, Paul Dempster, managing director, donated a further £1,500 bringing the total to £4,000. Thanks go to Geoff Sheldon, Natalie Freeman, Annette Pomery and Stephen Potter for organising the summer ball and raffle.

Secondly, Carillion Private Finance, one of Aspire’s main shareholders had heard about the charity and also wanted to give financial support of £7,500. Robin Herzberg, managing director of Carillion Private Finance, said: "Carillion is committed to helping to raise funds to provide essential rehabilitation facilities for soldiers wounded whilst carrying out their duties in extremely challenging circumstances."

Thirdly, and by no means least, CMS Cameron McKenna, a leading law firm which has been Aspire Defence Limited’s legal advisors since 2002 when Aspire was first engaged with Project Allenby/Connaught, sets aside a certain amount each year to donate to charity. When Frank Dufficy, a senior partner with the law firm, heard of Help for Heroes he realised that this is where their £50,000 donation should be sent.

Peter Smart, chief executive for Aspire Defence Limited, said, “Because of Aspire’s close relationship with the Army and because many of the soldiers currently deployed on operations come from the garrisons which we support, ‘Help for Heroes’ is a cause which has a particular poignancy for us.

We have been associated with the campaign since well before its launch and have, for example, provided ‘Help for Heroes’ with design services support and office space at the Aspire Business Centre in Tidworth. We believe that ‘Help for Heroes’ is a great cause which, given that Aspire’s role is all about making soldiers’ lives better, has particular relevance for us.”

Roger Morgan-Grenville, Help for Heroes’ national fundraiser, thanked all three organisations for this magnificent donation and said, “This donation is significant on a number of fronts; firstly it is one of the largest independent donations we have received and clearly goes a long way towards the rapid achievement of our initial target. Secondly, it is a great psychological spur on the charity’s first working day of the year to begin it with such a positive story. Thirdly, it is a great signal of what co-operation can do, whether it is co-operation between your three organisations or between you collectively and us.”

The aim of ‘Help for Heroes’ is to assist those who have been wounded in the conflicts in which the Armed Forces are currently engaged, primarily Afghanistan and Iraq. The initial target is to raise up to £5 million and will focus on the building of a swimming pool and gym at the forces' rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, in Surrey. Aspire’s other main shareholder, KBR, is also in discussions with Help for Heroes and is currently offering assistance with the project management of the new swimming pool at
Headley Court.